1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an application management system and method, and particularly to a system and method that monitors the execution status of a computer system application using an additional microprocessor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In addition to the functions provided by a conventional computer, most current computer systems have integrated facilities attained by various peripheral electronic appliances, such as CD/MP3 player, VCD/DVD player, TV and image explorer.
Current computer systems can satisfy the demands of users for the purpose of entertainment. The operating system of a computer can execute numerous multimedia software, such as music player, video player, TV player, radio (AM/FM) broadcaster, image capturer and explorer, and video/audio recording programs, and perform associated multimedia functions using related electronic appliances and corresponding drivers.
In practice, the computer system generally functions solely as an electronic multimedia device. That is, only related applications and peripheral hardware specific to a selected multimedia function are used, with other software and hardware elements of the computer system not being required. Under a common situation, if an application specific to a selected operation mode is under an abnormal condition, for example, the computer system is hanged up due to unknown problems while the application is running, users must keep waiting for system response. If the computer system crashes, users are unable to deal with the hang problem, thereby reducing the efficacy of the computer system.